4 mins read

Why Your Kid Needs A Summer Job

When I was in college, I spent two long, hot summers wrangling teenagers at a 350-acre organic farm in Pennsylvania. The camp focused not on swim tests or tie-dye, but instead the goal was developing kids’ leadership and communication skills. Like most sleepaway camps, this camp drew children largely from cities, kids whose families could afford…

6 mins read

Taking on Back Talk

Last week, I reread the family diary I kept faithfully years ago when my first two children were little. The entries stop rather abruptly after my third child entered the picture. For ten years, I haven’t had time to look at these notes. Most amusing: examples of the back talk problem I used to have…

5 mins read

Moms Who Kill Their Kids

Its the motherlode of motherhoods darkest topics, guaranteed to make you recoil even if you have personal familiarity with miscarriage, infertility, birth defects, stillborn infants or child abuse: moms who kill their own kids. The predictable reaction when a mom murders children: headlines sure to inspire shock and horror.